Search for autistic boy tough for emergency crews

Usual rules didn't apply in case of missing autistic child

Mills River Fire Department firefighters Harold Sitton, left, and James Davis watch as Airk Hamilton, 9, sits behind the wheel of the department's ATV Thursday. Hamilton reunited with the two firemen who saved him from the dark. After sitting in the driver's seat, the two firefighters took him on the promised ATV ride around the station, with light flashing.

Published: Sunday, September 8, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, September 8, 2013 at 1:46 a.m.

MILLS RIVER — The recent search for an autistic boy who wandered away from home was a heartbreaking challenge to rescuers who learned that calling out for him might send him deeper into the dark.

After a rash of recent national headlines of accidental drownings among wandering autistic children, rescue workers recognized the menace of the nearby Mills River as well as creeks and ponds.

Between 2009 and 2011, accidental drowning accounted for 91 percent of total U.S. deaths reported in children with autism prone to wandering, according to a 2012 report from the National Autism Association.

Rescuers knew there was a possibility that 9-year-old Airk Hamilton was in the water.

After four tense hours on Aug. 26, they found the boy wet and shivering under a pile of logs, but firefighters said it was a close call. In winter temperatures, the boy could have been in serious trouble.

Search begins

The sky had already soaked up the last few minutes of daylight when Airk Hamilton decided to go for a walk. His grandmother would have stopped him, but she had just stepped into another room when he went outside.

A swift-moving Mills River, swollen from a summer of heavy rain, flowed on its course to the French Broad less than 500 yards from his family's mobile home on Village Drive. Airk had been to the river several times with his family. This time, he went alone in the dark.

Frantic family members called 911 and reported Airk missing around 8:15 p.m. They told dispatchers that he is “very autistic” and would probably run if a search party started calling his name.

Airk is a whiz on computers, able to fix technological problems that stump adults, but his communication skills are lost in a fog of autistic disorder. Words do not come easily for Airk, making strangers that much scarier because he can't tell them to stay away. Nor can he ask for help.

Members of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office rushed to the scene and interviewed the family to get an idea of where Airk might go. They said he might go to the water.

Minutes later, a phone rang in the Mills River Fire & Rescue firehouse on School House Road. The band of firefighters had just settled into the routine of their regular meeting when they were called to assist in the search.

Deputies set up a command post at Mills River United Methodist Church on Old Turnpike Road. They began to form a plan, searching several possible hiding places around the area and nearby ponds. Mills River Fire Chief Rick Livingston and Capt. Tim Gordon of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office led the operation to find Airk as incident commanders.

“In any search, you plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Livingston said.

His department is slightly familiar with autism since a family member of one of their rescuers has the disorder, but this was the first time they had ever searched for an autistic child.

“In most cases, the lost person or lost party is looking for us as much as we're looking for them, but we learned that he would most likely be trying to hide from us,” Livingston said. “That was a huge challenge we don't normally encounter with searches.”

Henderson County sheriff's deputies ventured out from the command post with search dogs. The N.C. State Highway Patrol helicopter flew over the area scanning the yards, woods and bodies of water below with a FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) camera in search of body heat.

Not wanting to thwart the efforts of the other search parties, 25 firefighters from Mills River stood by in a holding pattern, ready to search.

While they prayed and waited, Harold Sitton, a 37-year member of Mills River Fire & Rescue, and Jason Davis, a member of two years, were deployed upstream at Mills River near Williamson Road, Livingston said.

They started walking downstream searching for an Airk, and they hoped to meet the child going upstream, he said.

“These two guys are very familiar with the area, and they're very methodical, which you need in a search,” Livingston said.

When initial efforts to find the boy failed, Gordon and Livingston decided to do a grid search. Grid searches are more involved and require an abundance of manpower to look at every square foot of the rivers, ponds and woods before them.

“We knew he'd be hiding from us,” Livingston said. “We called in the cavalry.”

Every fire department in Henderson County sent reinforcements in the form of rescuers and their tools. The Henderson County Rescue Squad and Henderson County EMS were quickly on the scene. Firefighters from North Transylvania Fire Rescue and Skyland Fire & Rescue rushed to help in the search.

“We had about 100 searchers that we were getting ready to deploy when our two guys called in,” Livingston said.

Sitton and Davis found Airk on the banks of Mills River, shivering from the onset of hypothermia, under the logs.

“He was drenched from head to toe. … He was shaking, and he was really cold,” Livingston said. “Had it been a cold night, I'm fairly certain we would have lost him.”

Autism spectrum disorders affect at least 152 people between the ages of 3 and 22 in Henderson County Public Schools alone. The disorders are defined as a range of conditions, present from early childhood, that often involve difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with others. Airk, however, bonded with his rescuers almost instantaneously.

They promised him a ride on their department's ATV (all-terrain vehicle), but first he agreed to let EMS technicians give him a checkup. Airk was transported by EMS to the hospital.

This past Thursday, he reunited with the two men who saved him from the dark and reminded them of the promise they made — to take him on that ATV ride. Airk beamed from the front seat of a large fire engine, whose lights were turned on especially for him.

He grinned from the front of the ATV as his rescuers laughed.

“Those two guys did an outstanding job in developing a bond with this kid,” the chief said. “He just took to them right away.”

Both Livingston and Gordon praised the community spirit among the departments who came together to find Airk.

I was proud “of our officers and the fire and rescue personnel working so closely together. It truly was a team effort, and we have been trying very hard to mesh our incident command abilities with everyone,” Gordon said.

“I greatly appreciate y'all,” Airk's mother, Sam Slaughter, told Livingston as she wiped the few hours of sleep from her eyes Wednesday afternoon, following a late night of work on a road crew.

Livingston invited the family back to the station.

“We're just thrilled that it turned out like it did,” Livingston said.

Airk is a third-grader at Bruce Drysdale Elementary.

“If you give him a computer, he'll do pretty much anything with it,” Slaughter said, grinning. “We had (technicians) come out here when he was about 5 years old because we had a computer tower that we couldn't get online. … They were out here for two-and-a-half hours and they finally go, 'I'm done. I can't do it. If you figure out how to do it, call us and let us know.' My son comes home from visiting his biological (father). Five minutes, he's on the computer and he's on his favorite website. We're still trying to figure out to this day, what did you do? He's smart as a whip.”

Slaughter said she thought Airk must have been bored the night when he wandered off.

“They did an absolutely wonderful job,” she said, thanking all of the men and women — an army of 100 — who rushed to help find her son.

<p>MILLS RIVER — The recent search for an autistic boy who wandered away from home was a heartbreaking challenge to rescuers who learned that calling out for him might send him deeper into the dark.</p><p>After a rash of recent national headlines of accidental drownings among wandering autistic children, rescue workers recognized the menace of the nearby Mills River as well as creeks and ponds.</p><p>Between 2009 and 2011, accidental drowning accounted for 91 percent of total U.S. deaths reported in children with autism prone to wandering, according to a 2012 report from the National Autism Association.</p><p>Rescuers knew there was a possibility that 9-year-old Airk Hamilton was in the water.</p><p>After four tense hours on Aug. 26, they found the boy wet and shivering under a pile of logs, but firefighters said it was a close call. In winter temperatures, the boy could have been in serious trouble.</p><p><b>Search begins</b></p><p>The sky had already soaked up the last few minutes of daylight when Airk Hamilton decided to go for a walk. His grandmother would have stopped him, but she had just stepped into another room when he went outside.</p><p>A swift-moving Mills River, swollen from a summer of heavy rain, flowed on its course to the French Broad less than 500 yards from his family's mobile home on Village Drive. Airk had been to the river several times with his family. This time, he went alone in the dark.</p><p>Frantic family members called 911 and reported Airk missing around 8:15 p.m. They told dispatchers that he is “very autistic” and would probably run if a search party started calling his name.</p><p>Airk is a whiz on computers, able to fix technological problems that stump adults, but his communication skills are lost in a fog of autistic disorder. Words do not come easily for Airk, making strangers that much scarier because he can't tell them to stay away. Nor can he ask for help.</p><p>Members of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office rushed to the scene and interviewed the family to get an idea of where Airk might go. They said he might go to the water.</p><p>Minutes later, a phone rang in the Mills River Fire & Rescue firehouse on School House Road. The band of firefighters had just settled into the routine of their regular meeting when they were called to assist in the search.</p><p>Deputies set up a command post at Mills River United Methodist Church on Old Turnpike Road. They began to form a plan, searching several possible hiding places around the area and nearby ponds. Mills River Fire Chief Rick Livingston and Capt. Tim Gordon of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office led the operation to find Airk as incident commanders.</p><p>“In any search, you plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Livingston said.</p><p>His department is slightly familiar with autism since a family member of one of their rescuers has the disorder, but this was the first time they had ever searched for an autistic child.</p><p>“In most cases, the lost person or lost party is looking for us as much as we're looking for them, but we learned that he would most likely be trying to hide from us,” Livingston said. “That was a huge challenge we don't normally encounter with searches.”</p><p>Henderson County sheriff's deputies ventured out from the command post with search dogs. The N.C. State Highway Patrol helicopter flew over the area scanning the yards, woods and bodies of water below with a FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) camera in search of body heat.</p><p>Not wanting to thwart the efforts of the other search parties, 25 firefighters from Mills River stood by in a holding pattern, ready to search.</p><p>While they prayed and waited, Harold Sitton, a 37-year member of Mills River Fire & Rescue, and Jason Davis, a member of two years, were deployed upstream at Mills River near Williamson Road, Livingston said.</p><p>They started walking downstream searching for an Airk, and they hoped to meet the child going upstream, he said.</p><p>“These two guys are very familiar with the area, and they're very methodical, which you need in a search,” Livingston said.</p><p>When initial efforts to find the boy failed, Gordon and Livingston decided to do a grid search. Grid searches are more involved and require an abundance of manpower to look at every square foot of the rivers, ponds and woods before them.</p><p>“We knew he'd be hiding from us,” Livingston said. “We called in the cavalry.”</p><p>Every fire department in Henderson County sent reinforcements in the form of rescuers and their tools. The Henderson County Rescue Squad and Henderson County EMS were quickly on the scene. Firefighters from North Transylvania Fire Rescue and Skyland Fire & Rescue rushed to help in the search.</p><p>“We had about 100 searchers that we were getting ready to deploy when our two guys called in,” Livingston said.</p><p>Sitton and Davis found Airk on the banks of Mills River, shivering from the onset of hypothermia, under the logs.</p><p>“He was drenched from head to toe. … He was shaking, and he was really cold,” Livingston said. “Had it been a cold night, I'm fairly certain we would have lost him.”</p><p>Autism spectrum disorders affect at least 152 people between the ages of 3 and 22 in Henderson County Public Schools alone. The disorders are defined as a range of conditions, present from early childhood, that often involve difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with others. Airk, however, bonded with his rescuers almost instantaneously.</p><p>They promised him a ride on their department's ATV (all-terrain vehicle), but first he agreed to let EMS technicians give him a checkup. Airk was transported by EMS to the hospital.</p><p>This past Thursday, he reunited with the two men who saved him from the dark and reminded them of the promise they made — to take him on that ATV ride. Airk beamed from the front seat of a large fire engine, whose lights were turned on especially for him.</p><p>He grinned from the front of the ATV as his rescuers laughed.</p><p>“Those two guys did an outstanding job in developing a bond with this kid,” the chief said. “He just took to them right away.”</p><p>Both Livingston and Gordon praised the community spirit among the departments who came together to find Airk.</p><p>I was proud “of our officers and the fire and rescue personnel working so closely together. It truly was a team effort, and we have been trying very hard to mesh our incident command abilities with everyone,” Gordon said.</p><p>“I greatly appreciate y'all,” Airk's mother, Sam Slaughter, told Livingston as she wiped the few hours of sleep from her eyes Wednesday afternoon, following a late night of work on a road crew.</p><p>Livingston invited the family back to the station.</p><p>“We're just thrilled that it turned out like it did,” Livingston said.</p><p>Airk is a third-grader at Bruce Drysdale Elementary.</p><p>“If you give him a computer, he'll do pretty much anything with it,” Slaughter said, grinning. “We had (technicians) come out here when he was about 5 years old because we had a computer tower that we couldn't get online. … They were out here for two-and-a-half hours and they finally go, 'I'm done. I can't do it. If you figure out how to do it, call us and let us know.' My son comes home from visiting his biological (father). Five minutes, he's on the computer and he's on his favorite website. We're still trying to figure out to this day, what did you do? He's smart as a whip.”</p><p>Slaughter said she thought Airk must have been bored the night when he wandered off.</p><p>“They did an absolutely wonderful job,” she said, thanking all of the men and women — an army of 100 — who rushed to help find her son.</p><p>“He's happy he's home. He stays close to home now.”</p>